Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
justice_n	mercy_n	see_v	sin_n	3,348	5	4.7378	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78180	The regenerate mans growth in grace. Shewing, that regeneration of necessitie requireth augmentation in grace. With the motives to move us to grow, signes to know whether we have grown; the lets that hinder our growth; and helps to further our growth. / Preached at a sermon at Lancaster, upon a day of humiliation, by N.B. minister thereof.	Barnett, Nehemiah, b. 1614 or 15.	1646 (1646)	Wing B875; Thomason E1165_1; ESTC R210099	23,846	95

judgements may fall upon men for their absence from the house of God Keepe then within the speare of grace and then the God of grace will keepe you let it be your joy and rejoycing as it was Davids to goe into the house of God David pronounced them blessed that dwelt in Gods house Ps 84.4 dwelling implies a continuall residence there our children must be there our servants there our hearts and affections there that if Christ should come he might find us rather in the house of prayer then in the denne of theeves The abuse of the doctrine of grace 3. Let. which is the Gospel or the promise of grace which are the covenants or the pledges of grace which are the Sacraments When we prize not the doctrine of grace when we make it not our portion and account it not our chiefe treasure many make it their talke and others their pretence and these are accounted good gospelers but wher 's the man that makes it his chiefe delight that earnestly hearkens to its commands that willingly submits himselfe to be moulded by it we doe not acknowledge that it is Evangelium a message sent unto us from God as a token of his love containing the meanes how we may be saved and so much Saint Paul includes in those words to the Jewes Act. 13.26 to you is the word of Salvation sent Now if God send it and we slight it God cannot chuse but take it ill at our hands put the case the King should finde us rebellious subjects Traitors to his Highnesse violating his lawes abusing his embassadours it cannot be denied but such Traitors deserve terrible tortures yet grant that he out of his love and princely clemency to his subjects should send oft times his servants with messages of peace which containes the meanes and way how thou maist be saved would it not incense his Majestie the more if thou shouldst slight his message and dispise his messengers scarce giving them the hearing Even so the God of Heaven the King of Kings hath sent his Gospel unto us his rebellious subjects containing a way whereby we may be brought to Salvation and be perpetually preserved from perishing yet if we neglect this benefit slight this message abuse his Embassadour God cannot chuse but be provoked his wrath much incensed and we must needes expect punishment correspondent to our rebellion answerable to our ingratitude which were the intollerable torments of an eternall Tophet And Secondly we abuse the promise of grace by deriving an encouragement and boldnesse to finne because God is gracious and mercifull they will goe on in their ungracious courses with this encouragement that God is gracious and make this the burden of their song that God is mercifull and makes Gods mercy a pack-horse for his iniquity and conceives God to be all compos'd with mercy and no Justice but God might fitly be compar'd to the Bee which is full of sweet honey but being provoked we shall finde him to have a sting So God is full of sweete mercy but if we provoke him by our impenitent sinnes and abuse his mercifull promises we shall finde that he hath justice to punish us for our offences will you heare Gods pleading with his mercy against ungracious men that stand guilty at the barre of Gods Tribunall Mercy pleades Psa 111.4 I am full of compassion slow to anger and of great kindnesse I will not deale with him according to his sins Psa 103 10 nor reward him according to his iniquities Ps 103.10 Justice sharply answeres Deu. 32.35 vengeance is mine and I will repay it as for his sinne I am of purer eyes Hab. 1.23 then to behold his iniquity But mercy pleades Isa 1.18 though his sinnes be as red as scarlet yet I will make them as white as snow Jer. 31.34 I 'le blot out all his sinnes and remember his iniquities no more But justice answereth Jude 4. he hath turned my grace into wantonnesse he hath departed from me and therefore shall he perish But mercy answeres Ephe. 2.10 they are the workmanship of mine owne hands you know whereof they are made Psal 103.14 Remember they are but dust But Justice saith They have added iniquity to iniquity Ezech. 7.8 let me poure the fury of my wrath upon them But mercy pleades Ezech. 33.11 I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he repent him of his wickednesse and live Justice answers he hath abused my grace that I offered him and lives still in his unrepented sinnes nay Reve. 2.21 I have given him time to repent him of them but he would not therefore shall he perish Now mercie is silent and stops her eares when she sees the sinner hath abused her now shee gives place to Justice to passe the sentence of judgement on the ungracious impenitent sinner Take not then boldnesse to sinne with presumption of Gods mercie for God hath but two wayes to deale with us By his sweete mercie or by his just judgment He hath tryed by his mercie but that hath not wrought upon us that we have abused Now wee must expect that hee should deale justly with judgement and if this will not prevaile with us and worke upon us there is no hope of us then Lord have mercy upon us Therefore let us either renounce our interest and title wee have in our sinnes and iniquities or else of necessity all interest or title we challeng to Gods mercy or Christs merits When the mercy of God is abused by wretched men when Christs merits shall embolden men to commit that for which he dyed they seeme to cast their sinnes behinde them on the backe of Christs merits and so ride swiftly with mercy in their mouths to hell And thirdly When wee abuse the pledges of grace which are the Sacraments Either of Baptisme when wee doe renounce the oath of supremacie in Baptisme and there every Christian is initiated into Christs Kingdome and takes his oath to bee a true subject to Christ his Captaine to renounce the world the flesh and the devill We have done thus and thus and have taken Christ to be our Prophet that he may shew the way that leads to happinesse and were willing to take him to be our Priest that hee may purchase for us eternall glory but when hee should bee our King to governe us to rule and reigne over us to bridle our usurping lusts to restraine our rebelling wills this we cannot away withall our unruly lusts our untamed wills and obstinate hearts will then renounce our oath and we will shew our selves disloyall subjects to our Soveraigne disclaiming that oath wee tooke in Baptisme So in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper wee enter into covenant with God and the word Sacrament signifies an oath so that to receive the Sacrament is to take an oath to forsake our former sinnes and lusts and to walk more watchfull for the time to

of grace we have no grace of our selves to dispence Some of us instead of feeding our flocks starue them and such as be full of science but where 's their conscience What soule can say he was the better for their profound knowledge this neglect of feeding our flock is the cause of so many barren soules and dwarfs in grace Shall painefull preaching be censured for precisenesse God forbid shall we that are the spirituall Physitians whom God hath trusted with his peoples welfare which he hath purchased with his owne blood neglect to heale the broken hearted recover the lost bring home the wandring sheepe to the sheepfold of Christ God forbid Shall we that are placed in the Church as mothers to bring forth children to God be barren and bring forth none or when we have them put them forth to nurse This as Doctor Adam saith wittily is not more unkinde in a naturall then unnaturall in a spirituall mother Hath God given us milke to feede his sheepe and shall we put them over to hirelings who suffer the wolfe to enter and teare the lambs O where is our care of those soules committed to our charge Ac si victuri essent sine cura cum pervenerint ad curam As if they had forgotten all care when they had gotten a cure But Saint Bernard concludes against them If thou lovest not thy charge thy People Plus quam tua plus quam tuos plus quam te More then thy goods more then thy friends more then thy selfe thou art not worthy to undertake this office Are not we stewards and labourers in Gods Vineyard and shall we be found negligent and loyterers God forbid Let our heartie desires for the good of our people breake forth with Saint Austine into open wishes that when Christ comes to judgement if it be his will Inveniat nos precantem vel praedicantem either praying for or preaching to our people that thereby we may forward others in the growth of grace Thirdly Ad Magistratum Unto the magistrate That the word of God may become powerfull for the beating down of sinne for the strengthening of grace and the furtherance of growth in grace in any it ought to have the sword of justice joyned with it for we that are Gods messengers may point at sinne but it must be you that are Gods vice-gerents that must punish sinne he hath put the sword of justice in your hands to suppresse sinne so farre as it lies in your power whose authority is to restraine raging sinnes that they raigne not amongst us O pitty miserable soules that have no pitty to themselves our words will not worke upon them let your swords compell them to the service of God Verbum informet sed virga reformat The Word may informe them but the sword doth reforme them The law unlesse it be put in execution is by some compar'd to a wooden dagger in a faire sheath and those that have the sword in their hands stand like the picture of Saint George with his hand up but never striking then thinke not your office well discharged if you but threaten offenders hence it is that so many tap-houses swarme with drunkennesse beggers wandring the paths of idlenesse and so many Sabboths spent in prophanesse Dare you suffer persons popishly addicted to contemne and revile Religion to persecute and afflict the Church of God to molest and masecrate his Ministers and not oppose their Popery hinder their oppressions and stop their prophanesse have you not God to support you herein the Law to direct you Religion to rule you conscience to encourage you and all these on your side to helpe and further you then up and be doing and the God of Heaven aide and prosper you * ● King 20.42 Take heede lest his life goe for your life if you let such escape Are not Magistrates our common-wealths Pilates that should save the Ship of mens soules from perishing but if either threatnings can terrifie him or mens favours move him to swerve from Justice He is unfit for these prophane times Are not Magistrates Gods sword-bearers why then should not they unsheath them in Gods cause that thereby piety might be defended the poores poverty relieved and the widdowes wrongs rited and then the prophane will feare you the godly will praise you the poore will blesse you and many prayers will bee laid up in Heaven for you And let mee deale plainly for plaine dealing is best The Magistrates neglect of restraining of sin is a speedy way to incense the wrath of God the Philosopher will say Nec hesperus nec vesperus formosior est justiciâ Neither the evening nor morning star more glorious in heaven then Justice is on earth He spake well that said It is very acceptable to God when the Gods of the earth are like the God of Heaven just and impartiall in punishing offenders which is a meanes to turne Gods wrath from us to continue his gracious presence w th us to open the windows of heaven and poure down upon us his blessings in this life Crown us with everlasting glory in the life to come O helpe for Christ his sake helpe us to further others in this growth of grace Of examination Vse 2 to try whether we be growing or declining Christians Now the Regenerate man is often molested with jealous feares least all be not well within and therefore he examines and searches his deceitfull heart and searching it he finds barrennesse and much hardnesse of heart and when he hath found it he bewailes it and for the time to come he labours to reforme it and grow more fruitfull Now because there is unwillingnesse in the flesh to suffer the soule to be ript up but starts back like a festred leg that is lanced therefore we will prescribe some motives to enforce this examination By this spirituall search 1 Moti we shall prove whether we have profited in the Schoole of Christ and discovering our backwardnesse and non-proficiencie it will make us question our estate thus what have I had so much teaching and am I ignorant what a non-proficient am I have I heard so many sermons and am never the better what a dunce am I have I liv'd so long unto the Gospel and have profited nothing what a beast am I have I had so many opportunities of doing good works of mercy works of charity and have neglected them Certainly I am still carnall this examination will discover our unprofitablenesse This spirituall search 1 Moti will make us speedily to pluck up our feete and runne more swiftly in the waies of Gods Commandements When a traveller hath consumed most part of the day in loytering and shall pluck out his watch and shall perceive how much time he hath mis-pent it will make him spurre the harder and ride the faster to his journyes end So the knowledge of this mis-pent time will make us play the good husbands for the time to come